It has long been recognized that women tend to live longer than men, but a recent study reveals that this gender-based longevity gap is widening.
Published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, a research paper highlighted that on average, men in the U.S. are dying nearly six years earlier than women — marking the largest disparity since 1996.
The study found that in 2021, the gap expanded to 5.8 years, a notable increase from the 4.8-year difference observed in 2010, when the gap was at its narrowest in recent history.
“There’s been extensive research into the decline in life expectancy in recent years, but no one has systematically analyzed why the gap between men and women has been widening since 2010,” explained first author Brandon Yan, a UCSF internal medicine resident physician and research collaborator at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Yan and his team conducted a detailed analysis of data from the National Center for Health Statistics, examining the specific causes of death that have most significantly affected life expectancy trends among men and women.
Harvard researchers, in collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco, identified the COVID-19 pandemic as the primary driver behind this widening gap, given its disproportionate impact on men.
Men were more vulnerable to COVID-19-related deaths due to various factors including chronic metabolic disorders, mental health issues, exposure risks at work, and societal factors such as incarceration and housing instability.
These factors contributed to a higher mortality rate among men compared to women during the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, unintentional injuries, diabetes, suicide, homicide, and heart disease were the primary contributors to the expanding life expectancy gap.
“While both men and women have seen increases in death rates from drug overdoses and homicides, it’s clear that men represent an increasingly disproportionate share of these fatalities,” Yan noted.
Looking forward, Yan emphasized the importance of further research to inform targeted public health interventions aimed at reversing the decline in life expectancy.
“We have shed light on a troubling trend,” Yan emphasized. “Future research should focus on guiding public health efforts to address and mitigate this widening gap.”
As senior author Howard Koh pointed out, it is crucial to closely monitor these trends as the pandemic subsides and to invest significantly in preventive measures and healthcare to prevent entrenched disparities like this one.
Life expectancy in the U.S. declined to 76.1 years in 2021, down from 78.8 years in 2019 and 77 years in 2020. This drop has been attributed in part to “deaths of despair,” including increases in suicides, drug use disorders, and alcoholic liver disease, often associated with economic challenges, depression, and stress.
